Haunted
by GinRyu-chan
Summary: AU Sometimes, it is not a ghost, but out memories that haunt us. Sanzo learns this when he accepts a job to exorcise a ghost at a theatre...Shonen-ai 39


Haunted

Another one-shot!! (Don't worry, I'm not forgetting my multi-chapter fic either) This idea came to me when I went to the Elgin Theatre, so this is loosely based on the history of said theatre (you don't have to know that history to understand this, but it's very interesting). Before though...I'm afraid I'll have to spam just a little, if you don't want to read, just skip over the bolded part.

_**Hanrin Gakuen (also known as Half-Moon Academy), is a school like most others.  
  
It has students, teachers, and...powerful secrets. This school educates both humans and demons, and its aim is to create harmony between the two races. The humans, of course, have no knowledge of this.  
  
This will all be jeopardized when the principal brings a strange young man into the school.**_

**If anyone's interested in joining, go to:**

****

Can't you just tell I'm desperate? (^_^)

Anyways...

DISCLAIMER ~ I, GinRyu-chan (Orange Crates), do NOT own Saiyuki (hence the lack of 39 fluffy moments), I do, however, own this story/fanfic, it's plot, idea, ending, puns, jokes and sweet fluffy moments (steal that and I swear I'll hunt you down), I also half-own the theatre this story revolves around (I made up the theatre, but it's loosely based on the Elgin Theatre).

WARNINGS ~ shonen-ai, malexmale relationships and fluff, once again, don't like, don't read (included in this package, is also a living beingxa ghost), might be mild swearing, mild violence and it's AU.

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_The grand doors stood beautifully in all its glory, grape vines that had been carved into the two marble columns saw everyone that passed through the door. The window in the top were filled with enchanting stain glass, depicting images of autumn leaves, falling in colours of copper, ruby and gold..._

23 year old Genjo Sanzo watched the sight with impassive amethyst eyes. The vines that had once been a part of the proud white marble columns, is still with it, even in its death. The left column is broken in half, the fallen part probably shipped off to be cut for some guy's kitchen counter-top, the right, though standing, is covered in cracks, and is chipped away in numerous places. The coloured glass was gone, leaving behind shards trapped in the frame, and when the sun shone at a certain angle, the remaining shards glinted like tears that refused to fall. This was all that remained of the once proud and glorious front of the Autumn-Star Theatre.

Without a word, Sanzo pushed on one of the doors...and it fell, creating a cloud of dust in it's wake. The blonde waited for the dust to settle before walking in. Sanzo wasn't just another tourist in over his head in visiting the abandoned theatre, he was an exorcist...correction, he is the best exorcist you could ever find, also one of the most expensive. He had gotten a call from some overly-rich business man who thought he still wasn't rich enough, concerning a haunted top floor of a theatre. The Autumn-Star Theatre, had two levels, but the top level had been closed off for...at least 40 years.

As he walked through the front hall leading to the actual theatre, the damages were very apparent. The walls, columns, ceiling, and plaques were covered in a sickening colour of pink-beige, the archways looked like they were crumbling, and the carpet's colour had faded from its once rich sanguine. How did he know this? Because he was here before, ten years ago, quite a while before this whole place became anything like this...

_"Isn't this exciting?"  
"...it's crowded..."_

_"Yes, it is, so many people gathered in one place, you hardly have any breathing room...and maybe that's why people come here."  
"..."_

"Are you Genjo Sanzo? The exorcist?" It was a business man, just a stout, ugly looking business man. "I'm representing the president of our company, since she was unable to come today."

Sanzo only nodded in answer, following the man into the lower theatre on the bottom floor. The theatre, was a disaster...

_The whole room was darkened, and the red walls became a dark crimson, the opera boxes' shapes could still be made out, but besides that, and the stage where the light was shining, nothing else could be seen. He felt something brush against his arm, turning to his right, his gaze was met by a pair of golden eyes..._

"...and that's the problem...we can't possibly continue our work, if all our equipment keeps being vandalized!"

Sanzo decided that tuning out the man was a good idea. The opera boxes were gone, the exorcist noted, and a couple of the columns were gone, the chairs were pretty much all but missing, and the walls were also painted that sickening colour that was painted in the front hall.

"...we've tried many other approaches, but it never worked, I don't understand why a ghost would want to protect this place...it's a mess! It would be much better off as one of our beauty salons..."

Sanzo decided to intervene, before the man decided to start ranting endlessly. "So where is this ghost?" For the sake of the man, let us hope there is a ghost...

"It's upstairs." With that, they left the theatre. Once outside, the man pointed to a stairwell...which had been blocked off by a wall before. "We found this stairwell when we knocked out the wall." He made no move, obviously too afraid to go up.

Without anymore words, the blond headed up the stairs. The stairs were covered in dust and rubble, but otherwise more intact than the bottom floor. He pulled out his spirit-ascending gun, Sanzo was not one to follow the stereotypical exorcising equipment, and pushed open the doors into the theatre on the top floor.

Beyond the door, a utopia. The doors had kept out most of the dust, though a few cobwebs existed, everything is assumed to be where they were when this theatre was created. The walls had trees painted on them, and from the trees, leaves of faded red, brown, green and gold hung outwards. The ceiling was of a clear sky, some of the paint was peeling, but like everything else in this makeshift time capsule, was more or less intact. The whole theatre was like a clear autumn night, even the opera boxes were decorated with fakes leaves and grapes.

Though, soon this glorious theatre will also be gone, once the construction to tear this place apart starts...this will all be nothing more than a legend told by old-folk who were young when they had seen a show up here, before it was closed off. Before that will happen though...

"I'm giving you the count of three to show yourself." There was no threat needed, his voice alone was able to convey the message more clearly than any word ever could. He had expected crazy-cackling, or some sort of response, but nothing came. He stood there, silent as death as he pin-pointed the aura of the ghost. Then, with one sudden jerk, turned and fired a shot, successfully putting a new hole in the wall.

"What's your problem?!" The cry sounded young, and annoyed. Sanzo turned around, seeing a perfectly healthy looking youth who looked no older than the age of eighteen, with short messy brown hair and clear golden eyes. Despite what people thought, ghosts weren't always transparent, they could control that if they know they're dead, otherwise they either only stay opaque, or stay transparent, those that are translucent are too weak to be even bothered with. This ghost looked opaque, the only thing giving away the fact that it is a ghost, is the fact that he wasn't standing, but floating above the chairs. Sanzo didn't reply, just fired another shot at the spirit, who dodged, after looking even more annoyed than before. "You didn't even start counting yet!!"

If Sanzo were not Sanzo, he would've face-faulted. "Just shut up and die."

The ghost's face transformed from annoyed to confused. "Eh? I thought I already was dead..."  
"Urusai!" And thus, multiple rounds were fired in the general direction of the poor spirit, and multiple holes were made in the walls, chairs and stage.

It wasn't long before Sanzo was left with one bullet. It wasn't often that Sanzo would actually be caught in this kind of dilemma, because on average he would only need one bullet per ghost. He made a mental note to make his employer pay for the bullets. He studied the he-spirit carefully...for some reason, he looked familiar... 

"Why don't you just stop shooting at me?" 

_"Ah, gomen..."_

"I didn't even do anything to you!" 

_"Is this your first time here? I've come here before, many times!"_

"So why don't you just stop being so violent, and maybe we can talk?" 

_"Ne, you don't happen to have any food do you? I'm hungry, but they never let me bring anything in here..."_

Then, the young voice, and the older voice merged and became one... 

"I'm Goku, what's your name?" 

So he's the boy he met ten years ago...Goku... 

The barrel was pointed at Goku again, Sanzo's glare not wavering. "I'm paid to get rid of whatever's haunting this place." Was his flat answer. 

"I'm not haunting this place! I just...really like this place..." A distant look appeared on Goku's face as he lowered his gaze. "I've always loved the theatre...the people on stage could be someone else, could be someone with a different past, present and future...I always wanted that. A way to live a different life..." 

Though Sanzo's face was impassive, he understood those feelings, the want to leave your own life behind and live another...but it is impossible, once the curtains are raised, you once again have to face reality. 

"And I thought...since the theatre was destroyed downstairs...maybe they'd open this one up! Then maybe...maybe I could see him again...the friend I made at the theatre...well...sort of..." He looked up at Sanzo. "He...looked like you...but he only came once..." 

Goku found himself facing the barrel of Sanzo's gun. "You can't do anything to change the fate of this place." It was then that he heard an innocent voice in his mind. 

**'Please don't send me back to the dark...'**

His grip on the weapon tightened. 

**'Please don't leave me alone again...'**

  
つづく [tsuzuku] 

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Nanjate yo~! If anyone fell for this, that means that you didn't read the opening author's note (sentence one), shame on you. Despite what you may be thinking, I am not doing this just to trick you, it's also done to build suspense...please don't kill me. 

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Sanzo walked out of the building, his wallet considerably heavier than it had been when he had walked in. The man was calling his employer on his cell, ecstatic since Sanzo had said the ghost won't be halting their demolition anymore. Sanzo turned to look back at the front of the theatre. 

_"You can't do anything to change the fate of this place."_

And he was right...Goku couldn't have done anything to permanently change this theatre's fate. Turning his back to the theatre, he walked away, completely certain his choice was right. 

~ * ~ 

"Yes! Let the demolition begin!" A woman with long blue hair and a face that not even a mother could love said in a voice sounding worse than an un-tuned fiddle played by someone who has no idea what they're doing, accompanied by nails on a blackboard. "Now this stupid old wreck of a building will be gone!!" 

"Maa, maa, I'm afraid you can't do that..." All heads turned to see a kind looking man with green eyes and brown hair, smiling, ever so politely. "You see...due to this theatre's history, it has officially been declared to be protected as a heritage sight." Still the smile didn't waver, even as the hag face-faulted in disbelief. 

~ * ~ 

"I expected that the renovations would take longer than that."  
"No questions?" 

"No, no questions, even if they did ask, I'd just tell them, a little yellow birdie with purple eyes told me."  
"Urusai Hakkai." Sanzo growled quietly as he and Hakkai watched the show from backstage. 

"But seriously, I must thank you for telling us about this place's history, otherwise we would've lost this important piece of history. What did make you decide to step in anyways?"  
"None of your business." 

Someone bumped into Sanzo from behind, and, on natural reflex, the exorcist turned around and glared. It was a short dark haired boy with golden eyes. The boy muttered an apology with a grin and went off. "That's Nataku." Hakkai said, in a gentlemanly voice. "He works part-time here...I heard that his father was sent to jail for 60 years, but died of A.R.T.T. half-way through the first year. He's a lot of help...but he's a little strange though...I sometimes see him talking to thin air..." He said, a certain glint in his eyes saying, 'I-know-what-you-did' and Sanzo returned with a look f his own saying, 'I-don't-give-a-shit-what-you-know'. "Speaking of strange though...there are always these 'mysterious' pranks being played on my co-worker, Gojyo." 

Sanzo decided to ignore the smiling face and calm voice, and looked up. He could see the rope tying a sand-bag slipping, he watched as the bag fell, but was caught before the audience could see it. He watched as it floated back and was put in a safe spot. Why did he step in? Easy, he wanted to help change something a certain dead baka saru couldn't. 

It was very strange indeed, not the pranks, or that Nataku kid, but the fact that he, Genjo Sanzo, had fallen in love with a ghost...then again, stranger things have happened... 

"Ah, Sanzo, do you mind me asking why you're smiling?"  
"None of your business." Was the only answer he gave as he watched a certain baka saru grin and wave at him. 

終 [owari]

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Hope this was satisfactory!! Please review if you have any comments or criticisms [with reason, no reasonless flames please] and a cookie for anyone who can guess what A.R.T.T. stands for.


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